Based on the principles of the technology according to the patent application DE 198 60 840 A1 and the parallel U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,197, as well as the PCT Application No. PCT/DE 2005/000765, each from the same original applicant on the subject of “run openings” in airbags that are covered with sewn textile or the like, the present invention concerns extensions and additional alternatives to the PCT Application No. PCT/DE 2006/001796, likewise from the same original applicant, concerning, in particular, secure assembly, especially of the tear strip, during mass production and the effect thereof on the entire system, and further improved implementations for the safe discharge of an airbag through a seat covering. In this respect, the total contents of disclosure of these older applications, especially with respect to the structural type of the airbag device and its assembly and operating method, are incorporated in full through reference herewith in the present document to avoid repetition.
In summary, the preceding applications named above show a tearing means, for example, a strip, a thread, or the like, which is sewn with a passage seam for the airbag provided. Through various kinds of “direction changes,” the tearing means/strip is mounted so that, at the beginning of its deployment, the airbag generates a load that tears a run or a hole in the planned tear seam with the tearing means. Thereafter, the further-deploying airbag is easily able to continue opening the tear seam. The system functions better than all other systems and, as a result, is independent of the type of seam and quality of the material.
Techniques that are typically used today use different ways to solve the problem of seams that open with difficulty. The seams are weakened and require, in connection with expansion-soft materials, low-expansion sleeves that are also sewn: this is all very production-sensitive and material-sensitive. Expensive monitoring tests are necessary.
The present invention has and achieves the goal of further improving the known, earlier technology through refinements and alternatives.